Cleaner for forks, combs, or like implements



March 211., 3950 s. CHELDIN 2,501,208

CLEANER FOR FORKS, COMES, OR LIKE IMPLEMENTS Filed April 4, 1947 Avren/ar Z X X z 5/bfngy Che/40h Patented Mar. 21, 1950 UNITED zseis STATES PATENT or ies CLEANER.FOR FQRKS, COMBS,Y-OR,LIKE

IMPLEMENT-S Sidney Clieldin; Santa 'Monica, Calif; Application April 4,1947, Serial.No..739,406 '3 Claims. (01. 15-104) This inventionhas to do with awcleaner for.

ing operations and in.the case .of, forks; used to* handle food this is a disagreeable and unsatisfactory condition.

A general object of, my present invention is to. provide a cleaner for toothed instruments such as forks ,or combs, which cleaner is of simple,

inexpensive construction. and. is .formed so that.

itrcan be readily cleaned or washed so that it can be kept in satisfactory condition for use."

Another object of the present invention is to provide a simplified and improved cleaner .con-

struction relating the ends of, the cleaner to the body which is. formed oigseparate strands. By my present invention the end portions of the strands extend transversely into the ends of thecleaner where they are secured by longitudina-l ties, the ties andv end portions being woven together.

A further object of the present. invention is. to provide a cleaner constructed in the manner hereinabove indicated wherein the woven'parts may be held rigid and set against unraveling or separation by adhesion.

Another object of the --present invention is to provide a simplified, practical. and easily man ufactured mounting means by which the cleaner can be attached to a hook "or suspended from a suitable object for storage or-use; In accordance with my invention the mounting means involves alooped part or member projecting from one of the ends of the cleaner midway betweenits ends and in'the preferred-form of the inventionthe looped member is an extension or continuation of an elongate part; forming strands of the. cleaner body.

The various objects and features of my inven-- tion'will be fully understoodfrom the following descriptionof typical, preferred forms and applications of the invention,throughoutwhich description-reference is made to the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a view-illustrating a typical form .101" embodiment of the present invention.- Fig. 2,;

is:an enlarged detailed transverse sectionalview taken as indicated by line 2+2 on Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an'enlarged view of the upper portion of the A cleaner, showingthe details thereof and, showing. the strands of the body. somewhat parted to illustrate the fact that they are separate or independent of each other, and Fig. 4 is an elongate strip as. initially woven and embodying a plu-, ralit'y' of cleaners joined end to end ready for sep-.

aration into individual cleaners.

The device of the present invention is useful,

generally, as a..cleaner for toothed implements" suchas combs orjforks andin the drawings I have shown a form of the. invention particularly:

suited for the cleaning of forks such'as are used in the kitchen or. dining .room for the handling of food," since it is particularly important that. such implements be. cleaned occasionally toremove foreign matter that isnot dislodged by "or,- dinary washing. Furthermore, the form of the invention "illustrated in the drawings can be used toadvantage in.the polishing of silverware and particularly forks, where it is. difiicult to polishbetween the prongs or teeth and where polishing materials of some characters have a tendency;

to lodge and become difiicult of removal.

The cleaner illustrated in the drawings in volves, generally, two elongate spaced parallel ends A with a body B of strands extending between the ends and, with a mounting means C- projecting from one, ofthe ends. The device may be formed of a fibrous material such as cotton; or the like, so that it can be readily washed "or otherwise. cleaned to keep it in condition for use. The. ends A may be formedof the same material or materials as the body 33 and the mounting means C except thatjat these -parts the material is so formed, for instance woven, as to have substantial body and to be more or less rigid inorder to give the desiredsupport tothe body 13., The body B of the cleaner is a stranded element," that is, itinvolves a plurality of independent or separate strands Ill 1 which extend freely from one end "A to the other, at whichpointsthe strands are anchored; In the preferred formof the invention the several strands H) arev of corresponding size and shape and they are preferablyin the form of strings or cordsnwrapped or twisted to have the desired size and body and yet'be soft enough to flex and be operablebetween the tines or prongs of the implement to be cleaned.

Since I preferably form the entire cleaner of cord,- or, the like,-the strands iii "are preferably iWthe'nature of a heavy cotton-strin or cord.

Each end A of the cleaner is integrally joined with the body B by providing the strands ID with end continuations II which are Woven into and become part of the end. In the preferred form of the invention each strand in has an end continuation or an end portion H extendin transversely of the end A and the several end portions I I of the strands are bound or tied together by ties l2 that extend longitudinally of the end and which are preferably woven to or with the end portions H in the manner illustrated throughout the drawings. In carrying out my invention I may stitch, weave, or otherwise unite the ties l2 with the end portions ll of the strands ID to form an end A which is tight and of sufficient body and mass as to be substantially rigid in order to efiectively hold the end portion of the body B in the desired form or shape as shown throughout the drawings.

It is a feature of my invention that I provide an effective cleaner without employing metal parts in the form of metal frames, holders, or reinforcements, and in lieu of such parts I make the ends A sufiiciently tight and of sufficient body to give the cleaner the desired form or shape.

A further feature of my present invention is the formation of the strands ll] of body B and the portions H of the ends A from a single continuous length of material; for instance, a single string or cord, in which case the length of cord is in a, zig-zag form or shape extending back and forth from one end A to the other, being bent or turned back on itself at points X as clearly illustrated throughout the drawings.

The mounting means C that I have shown in the drawings is preferably confined to one end A of the structure; however, I may apply a mounting means to both ends A if I so desire. The mounting means projects from the end A preferably so that it coincides with the central axis of the structure, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The mounting means C is preferably in the form of a length of material looped as shown in Fig. 1, and it is preferably formed by continuing the string or cord employed in forming the cleaner beyond the edge of end A so that it is folded or bent back upon itself at Y which is remote from the end A rather than being bent back at a point X occurring at the edge of the end A, as are all other parts of the cord employed in the body. It will be apparent from the drawings that in following my construction the end portions of the string or cord are bent back or looped at X along the outer edge of the end A at all points except where the mounting means C occurs, and at that point the string is extended to project from the outer edge of end A enough to form the loop of the means C.

I may, in carrying out my invention, so form the ends A that the parts or materials entering into them are bonded or united to remain together, substantially rigid and in shape. Further, the parts entering into the ends are so related that they will not unravel. However, when I employ a simple weave, as illustrated in the drawings, it is desirable that the parts he held together by adhesion to provide rigidity and to prevent unraveling. In the form of the invention illustrated I may apply a binder to the end parts A of the holder, or I may employ ties l2 of a plastic material which when subjected to heat or other suitable treatment will fuse together so that the entire structure remains rigid and intact. In accordance with my invention I may employ any suitable material as the binder; for instance, a

body of thermo plastic material, or any suitable insoluble adhesive can be used. By insoluble I refer to an adhesive insoluble in the usual mediums employed for washing an article such as the cleaner that I have described. When employing a tie of plastic material any suitable plastic may be used that will not be effected by the usual temperatures or mediums employed for washing. In practice a wide variety of so-called plastic materials soluble in special solutions or workable under high temperatures may be used to advantage.

In carrying out the method of my invention, I Weave an elongate strip such as is shown in Fig. 4, incorporating a plurality of cleaners joined edge to edge in a single continuous body. In performing the weaving operation I handle the length of string or cord that is to form the strands l0 and portions l I so that it is laid back and forth, turning or bending it upon itself at points X and at suitable intervals extending it to form the means C in which case it is bent back upon itself at Y. If a binding material is to be used it is applied to the ends A, or if the ties 52 are of a plastic material, suitable heat is applied in a proper manner to fuse those parts together and to bond them to other parts with which they are woven or are in contact. The final operation in the manufacture is severing the end forming parts where the bodies of binding material occur. as for instance along the line indicated at Z in Fig. 4, which severing operations part the initially formed strip, dividing it into separate or individual cleaners such as are shown in Fig. 1.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that I have, by my present invention, provided a cleaner that is effective in form and extremely simple and inexpensive of manufacture. Through the method of manufacture cleaners can be made automatically, or in a machine, so that they are formed rapidly and cheaply in a continuous strip to be thereafter separated or parted into the individual cleaners by a very simple parting or cutting operation.

Having described only typical forms of apparatus and manners of carrying out the method of my invention, I do not wish to be limited or restricted to the specific details herein set forth,

but wish to reserve to myself any variations or modifications that may appear to those skilled in the art and fall within the scope of the following claims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A cleaner of the character described including, an elongate body comprising a plurality of separate flexible strands extending from one end of the body to the other and being normally substantially parallel with each other, end parts at the ends of the body extending transversely of the body and having the said strands anchored thereto, and mounting means including a loop member attached to one of said end parts, each end part including extensions of the said strands and ties woven to said extensions and extending transversely thereof. the loop member being continuous with extensions of the strands.

2. A cleaner of the character described including, a unit having an elongate body and end parts extending transversely of the body at the ends thereof, and a mounting member carried by and projecting from one of the end parts. the body and end parts being formed by a length of flexible material folded back upon itself at each end of the cleaner with strand portions extending longitudinally of the body and with extensions of the strand portions at the end parts, and ties extending in a direction transverse of the body and Woven to said extensions of the strands.

3. A cleaner of the character described including, a unit having an elongate body and end parts extending transversely of the body at the ends thereof, and a mounting member carried by and projecting from one of the end parts, the body and end parts being formed by a length of flexible material folded back upon itself at each 1 end of the cleaner with strand portions extending longitudinally of the body and with extensions of the strand portions at the end parts, and ties extending in a direction transverse of the body and joined to said extensions of the strands, the mounting member being a length of said material continuing from extensions of the strands that occur at one of the end parts.

SIDNEY CHELDIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

5 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,228,221 Kordina May 29, 1917 1,453,777 Zimmerman Mayl, 1923 0 1,545,334 La Bara July 7, 1925 2,100,201 Quenelle Nov. 23, 1937 2,253,000 Francis, Jr Aug. 19, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 15 Number Country Date 694,452 France Sept. 16, 1930 

